Walking amongst sharp knives

The reports from Burma do not make pretty reading. As revealed by the Karen Women’s Organisation(KWO) last week, shocking abuses are taking place against ethnic Karen women in Burma.

The practice of the Burmese Army to execute village heads has led to traditional Karen culture being turned upside-down. Women were appointed as village chiefs: however, this has put many of them in the frontline of war.

According to the new report, Walking Amongst Sharp Knives, Karen women have been crucified, burnt alive, raped, beaten, subject to water torture, buried in earth and then beaten to death, beheaded or forced into slave labour.

Even more disturbing are the allegations that pregnant and nursing women chiefs have been specifically targeted.

Yet despite these abuses the report also reveals the bravery and personal sacrifice of women in challenging injustice and defending their people.

"How can any woman feel safe under the Burma Army when even women village heads are openly targeted for abuse?" said Blooming Night Zan, KWO Joint Secretary 1 of KWO.

The KWO is calling on the United Nations Security Council to support the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by the Burmese military dictatorship.

"These women must be protected under international humanitarian law,” said Rachel Bentley, director of Children on the Edge, which works with Karen women and children stranded in Thailand and other countries. It's absolutely unacceptable that any government would seek to harm the most vulnerable members of its society in this way."

Children on the Edge and the KWO are urgently calling for the Thai government to continue to provide protection to refugees fleeing human rights abuses in Burma.

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